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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Pamela Duncan and Denis Campbell

One in eight UK adults using private medical care due to NHS delays

Ambulances parked outside the Emergency Department at the Royal Liverpool Hospital in Merseyside
On in six patients arriving by ambulance waited more than an hour to get treated in A&E in the week to 11 December. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

One in eight adults in the UK have paid for private medical care in the last year because of long delays in getting NHS treatment, renewing fears that the NHS is becoming “a two-tier system”.

“Around one in eight (13%) adults reported they had paid for private medical care, with 5% using private insurance and 7% paying for the treatment themselves,” according to a new report by the Office for National Statistics.

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